“The Senate’s capital budget proposal would take us backwards on housing. It’s less than what we approved last biennium. In the middle of a housing crisis, less is unacceptable. We need to go big, so people can go home. In the past two years we were able to make historic investments to scale up and speed up construction of housing and shelters. The problem is growing, not shrinking, so our response must match the moment.
"I appreciate the work of legislators to address the many urgent priorities in our capital budget, including a new behavioral health hospital and housing. I look forward to seeing the House proposal next week.”
Background:
In December, Inslee released a housing proposal that included a referendum that will allow legislators to front-load $4 billion of housing construction over the next six years. The underlying capital budget will fund approximately 2,200 housing units in 2023–25. The $4 billion referendum would add approximately 5,300 units additional units during that time, and 19,000 in the following three biennia.
The 2021-23 capital budget included about $290 million for the Housing Trust Fund and $419 million for a new type of housing called Rapid Capital Acquisition. In 2021-23, federal funding significantly boosted overall funding to more than $800 million. The Senate proposal doesn't include funding for RCA and reduces overall funding for housing unit investments back to $542 million.
IN OTHER STATE NEWS...
Commerce awards $50.6 million to rapidly acquire 13 properties for shelters, affordable housing.
Grants bolster efforts to confront homelessness in 10 counties across Washington state
OLYMPIA, WA — The Washington Department of Commerce announced approximately $50.6 million in grants to 13 affordable housing projects throughout the state. This second round of funding through the state’s 2022 Rapid Capital Housing Acquisition program will create 214 affordable units and 70 beds of housing for people in Washington who are currently homeless or at high risk of homelessness across ten counties.(details)
Swatting and Who’s Responsible?: Teens compete in Mock Trial championship this weekend in Olympia
March 22, 2023
Hundreds of high-school students from across Washington are gathering in Olympia this weekend to compete in this year’s YMCA Mock Trial State Championship, after three years of the event being held remotely due to COVID-19.
Students from two dozen schools will come together March 24-26 at the Thurston County Courthouse, to participate in a true-to-life court proceeding where they will present the different sides of a fictitious case involving witness testimony, evidence, attorney arguments, rulings by judges and ratings by jurors staffed by a team of active and retired volunteer judges and attorneys. (DETAILS)
Water quality violations result in $53,000 fine to San Juan sand and gravel mine--DOE
BELLINGHAM, WASH. –
The Washington Department of Ecology is issuing a $53,000 penalty to Myron Williams, Inc., for failing to protect water quality at its mining operation at Egg Lake Quarry on San Juan Island. This business has not complied with the requirements to protect water quality that must be followed by all sand and gravel businesses, despite repeated technical assistance, warning letters, and a field penalty from Ecology inspectors.(details)
Public meeting scheduled to discuss Eastern Washington salmon and steelhead seasons.
OLYMPIA – The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will host a public meeting in Kennewick on March 29 to discuss salmon and steelhead seasons in the central and eastern regions of the state for the coming year.(details)
2) NEWS FROM OUR CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION
KILMER APPLAUDS $125,000 FEDERAL INVESTMENT TO REDUCE WILDFIRE RISK IN CLALLAM COUNTY
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Derek Kilmer (WA-06) and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack applauded an announcement from the U.S. Forest Service that it will commit $125,000 to create a new Clallam County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). The Community Wildfire Defense Grant program helps communities and others plan for and mitigate wildfire risks as the nation faces an ongoing wildfire crisis. Funds for the Program come from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, historic legislation Rep. Kilmer supported to invest in America’s infrastructure. (details)
Entire Pacific Northwest Congressional Delegation Urges President Biden to Prioritize Modernization of Columbia River Treaty
60-year-old Columbia River Treaty delivers irreplaceable energy, irrigation, and fish habitat benefits; flood control provisions expire in 2024; Biden to visit Ottawa Thursday and Friday, address Parliament of Canadam (details)
Chair Cantwell Calls for a ‘Passenger Bill of Rights’ and More Rural Flights in Committee Hearing on Aviation
Cantwell on junk fees, murky refund processes, and shrinking airline seats: We need “a better deal for the U.S. consumer”; WA airport director testifies: Daily flights in Wenatchee down from four to one. (details)
Senators Murray and Cantwell Announce Nearly $173 Million in Federal Loans for Sound Transit
(Washington, DC) – Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, announced a nearly $173 million loan for two Sound Transit projects. The loans come from the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program and will support the Hilltop Tacoma Link Extension project and the Lynnwood Link Infill Station project.( details)
DOT Awards Funds to Help Improve Safety Along MLK Way & Speed Up Curbside Deliveries
Murray, Cantwell announce $3.9 million in federal grants to adopt cutting-edge transportation tech in Seattle (details)
3) WORLD & NATIONAL NEWS
World:
Marking International Day, Secretary-General Honours Victims of Transatlantic Slave Trade, Urges Everyone to Stand United against Racism
Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, observed on 25 March:
Today, we pay tribute to the victims of the transatlantic slave trade. The evil enterprise of enslavement lasted for over 400 years. Millions of African children, women and men were trafficked across the Atlantic, ripped from their families and homelands — their communities torn apart, their bodies commodified, their humanity denied.(details)
Marking International Day of Solidarity with Detained, Missing United Nations Staff, Secretary-General Calls for Greater Action Ensuring Safety, Security
Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message on the International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members, observed on 25 March:
On International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members, we focus attention on the dangers faced by our personnel and partners as they carry out the vital work of the United Nations. We salute their courage and service in some of the most challenging parts of the world — and we call for greater action to ensure their safety and security.( Details)
Remarks by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield at a U.S.-Hosted United Nations Water Conference Side Event Titled “Stronger Through Water” (details)
United States Imposes Additional Sanctions on Jet Fuel Suppliers and Military Cronies to Address Burma Military Regime’s Atrocities. (details)
Nation:
Austin Asks Congress to Support Defense Budget Request.
The fiscal 2024 defense budget request of $842 billion is needed to deter and counter the threats of today and the threats that may arise in the future, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III told the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee today.(details)
Deputy U.S. Marshal Convicted of Conspiracy, Cyberstalking, Perjury, and Obstruction
A federal jury convicted a deputy U.S. Marshal yesterday for conspiracy to commit cyberstalking, cyberstalking, perjury, and obstruction of a federal matter.(details)
U.S. Department of Education Issues Dear Colleague Letter Calling for End to Corporal Punishment in Schools and Guiding Principles on School Discipline. (details)
Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas and German Minister of the Interior and Community Faeser Discuss Mutual Security Cooperation(details)
4) BUSINESS
Secretary Vilsack Convenes State Agriculture Leaders from the Colorado River Basin as Part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Comprehensive Approach to Address Unprecedented Drought in the Region.(details)
USDA Announces Upcoming Changes to the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) Wheat Tables(details)
Is Access to the Latest Medications at Risk for America’s Patients? (US CHAMBER OF COMMERCE)
UNFIT WAGES: US DEPARTMENT OF LABOR SURVEY FINDS WIDESPREAD VIOLATIONS BY SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GARMENT INDUSTRY CONTRACTORS, MANUFACTURERS (details)
5) Focus story & Local meetings
HUD Makes $30 Million in Funding Available for Public Housing Agencies to Help Youth Aging out of Foster Care
Agencies are encouraged to apply for funding
Link Source: https://www.hud.gov/press/press_releases_media_advisories/HUD_No_23_058
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it will make available $30 million to public housing authorities (PHAs) on a non-competitive basis through HUD’s Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) Initiative to provide housing assistance to young adults who are transitioning out of foster care or have already left foster care. Unfortunately transitions out of foster care can be an unstable time and can result in experiences of homelessness. FYI makes Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) assistance available to Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) in partnership with Public Child Welfare Agencies (PCWAs). This funding will help connect youth in foster care with stable housing and strengthen the community response of homelessness.
“HUD invites public housing authorities to apply for this funding so that they can continue to assist youth who are aging out of foster care and ease connections to housing,” said U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. “We want every young person to have a safe place to call home. This funding is available to help prevent young people from having to start their young adult lives living on the streets.”
All In: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness outlines the Biden-Harris Administration’s vision of an America where no one experiences the tragedy and indignity of homelessness—and everyone has a safe, stable, accessible, and affordable home. It sets a near-term goal of reducing homelessness 25% by 2025. As a demonstration of the Biden-Harris Administration’s continued commitment to expanding rental assistance for all households in need, the President’s Fiscal Year 2024 Budget request includes $9 billion in new mandatory funding to establish a housing voucher program for all youth aging out of foster care to living independently.
These FYI vouchers will be used to provide housing assistance to young adults in between the ages of 18 years and not more than 24 years old who left foster care or will leave foster care in the next 90 days and are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. PHAs can request non-competitive FYI vouchers under this new Notice on a rolling basis, once they receive a referral of an eligible youth from a partnering PCWA.
The process and eligibility requirements to apply for the Foster to Youth to Independence (FYI) non-competitive vouchers can be found in PIH Notice 2023-04: online.
LOCAL MEETINGS
CLALLAM COUNTY MEETINGS:
Clallam County Commission work session for 3/27/23
https://www.clallamcountywa.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03272023-756
Clallam County Commission meeting for 3/28/23
https://www.clallamcountywa.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03282023-757
City of Sequim Council meeting for 3/27/23
https://www.sequimwa.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/2790
City of Forks Council meeting for 3/27/23
https://forkswashington.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Agenda-03272023.pdf
JEFFERSON COUNTY MEETINGS:
Jefferson County Commission meeting for 3/27/23
https://media.avcaptureall.cloud/meeting/fbde3651-8e0d-4980-b150-208f8bf0b5ad
City of PORT TOWNSEND AGENDA for 3/27/23
https://cityofpt.granicus.com/GeneratedAgendaViewer.php?view_id=4&event_id=3643
